Kentuckians' Attitudes Toward Children with Epilepsy

Introduction. Epilepsy continues to increase worldwide but, unfortunately, many high school students have inadequate knowledge of and negative beliefs towards the disease. We aimed to assess the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of epilepsy among high school students of Central Nepal. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional study was performed involving 1360 high school students from 33 private schools across Bharatpur, from June 2013 to July 2013, to assess their knowledge, beliefs, and practices (KBP) on epilepsy using a standardized questionnaire. The differences in mean KBP scores between different sexes, religions, and those personally knowing versus not knowing someone with epilepsy were assessed using independent t-tests; a Pearson correlation was calculated to assess the relationship between KBP scores and age. Results. Of 1360 participants, 79 (5.8%) students had never heard or read about epilepsy and were consequently excluded from statistical analysis. Only 261 out of 1360 (19.2%) had personally known someone with epilepsy. The mean KBP scores were 5.0/8, 7.4/12, and 1.7/3, respectively. Statistically significant differences were only observed in the knowledge component of the KBP score; female scored higher than males (p < 0.001) and, interestingly, students who had personally known a person with epilepsy actually knew less than those who had not known one (p = 0.018). We also found a significant negative correlation between knowledge and age (p = 0.003). Conclusions. The overall knowledge, beliefs, and practices appear to be inadequate, emphasizing the need for further educational intervention.

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“…However, sociocultural differences have been known to significantly affect attitude towards a person with epilepsy [21–23]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices on Epilepsy among High School Students of Central Nepal

Thapa

Bhandari

Shrestha

et al. 2017

Epilepsy Research and Treatment

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“…', global evaluation of the cognitive function is necessary. To know how to best manage school placement, we need analysis of the cognitive profile, educational learning strategy, and a psychosocial and familial evaluation (Hermann 1982, Taylor and Lochery 1991, Baumann et al 1995, Bobet 1996. The particular findings in focal epilepsy are quite remarkable in this cohort.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epileptic syndromes, cognitive assessment and school placement: a study of 251 children

Bulteau¹,

Jambaqué²,

Viguier³

et al. 2000

Develop Med Child Neuro

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Two-hundred and fifty-one children (98 girls and 153 boys, aged from 3 to 17 years) with documented diagnosis of epileptic syndrome, IQ measurement, and information on school placement were included in this retrospective study. The relations between these three parameters as well as effects of age at onset and duration of epilepsy, seizure frequency, and number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) were analysed. Both IQ and schooling were univariately related to epileptic syndrome, age at onset and duration of epilepsy, and number of AEDs; seizure frequency was related to IQ but not to school placement. Multiple regression showed that IQ was independently related to epileptic syndrome and AED; multiple logistic regression showed that type of school (mainstream versus adapted or special) was independently related to IQ and AED. Children with idiopathic generalised or with localisation-related epilepsy had higher IQ scores and higher probability of mainstream schooling than those with symptomatic or cryptogenic generalised epilepsies or epileptic syndromes which were undetermined. Subtests profile of intelligence scale in localisation-related epilepsies showed different specific cognitive deficits, according to the location of the epileptic focus.

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“…Both open-and closed-ended questions have been used. Postal inquiry was used in the Finland survey (39), telephone inquiry in the Kentucky survey (40), and personal interviews in most other surveys (6-10, 41,42). People tend to answer differently in face-to-face interviews than in a self-administered questionnaire (39).…”

Section: The Kap Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence, Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Epilepsy in Kerala, South India

et al. 2000

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Summary:Purpose: To ascertain the prevalence and pattern of epilepsy and to characterize and quantify knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward epilepsy among the people of the state of Kerala, which is distinguished from the rest of India by a high level of literacy and health awareness of its population.Methods: We conducted a door-to-door survey covering the entire population of 238, I02 people residing in 43,68 I households in a seniiurban area of central Kerala. The screening questionnaire administered by medical social workers had a sensitivity of 100% for identifying persons with epilepsy. Neurologists examined all the individuals suspected of having epilepsy. We evaluated KAP toward epilepsy among 1,118 subjects (439 males and 679 females; mean age, 33.3 years; age range, 15-85 years) from households without epilepsy in the study area.Results: Through a three-phased survey, we ascertained 1,175 cases (6 16 males and 559 females) with active epilepsy, providing a crude point prevalence ratio of 4.9 cases per 1,000 people and an age-adjusted prevalence ratio of 4.7 cases per 1,000 population. The highest age-specific prevalence rate of 6.5 per 1,000 occurred in the 10-to 19-year-old age group. Sex-specific prevalence rates did not significantly differ. The proportion of generalized and localization-related epilepsies was 58.8% and 30.6%, respectively. Ninety-nine percent of the KAP respondents had read or heard about epilepsy. Thirty-one percent and 27% thought epilepsy was a hereditary disorder and a form of insanity, respectively. About 40% of the respondents felt that individuals with epilepsy could not be properly educated or employed. Eleven percent would object to their children having contact with epileptic children.Conclusions: The prevalence and pattern of epilepsy in central Kerala, South India, do not differ from that of developed countries. Although the awareness of epilepsy among the people of Kerala was comparable to that of developed countries, the attitudes were much more negative. The need for educating the people of Kerala on epilepsy and for incorporating an adequate knowledge of epilepsy in the school curricula cannot be overemphasized. Key Words: Epidemiology-Epilepsy-Knowledge, attitude and practice-KAP-Prevalence.Population-based studies, in contrast to hospital-based studies, provide a relatively unbiased picture of various aspects of the disease in question. Prevalence is a measure of the disease burden in the community, which has to be considered when planning the health needs at local, regional, and national levels. Knowing the degree of awareness and attitude toward a disease in a society is a necessary first step in eliminating discrimination against persons with that disease.

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Kentuckians' Attitudes Toward Children with Epilepsy

Cited by 58 publications

References 4 publications

Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices on Epilepsy among High School Students of Central Nepal

Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices on Epilepsy among High School Students of Central Nepal

Epileptic syndromes, cognitive assessment and school placement: a study of 251 children

Prevalence, Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Epilepsy in Kerala, South India

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